Market & economic update

U.S. market awaiting payrolls report: U.S. stock futures were almost flat expecting a non-farm payrolls report on Tuesday. Investors are also eagerly waiting for the earnings from companies like Delta Air Lines Inc., DuPont Co. and others. On Monday, S&P 500 index was up marginally over the prior record close of 1,744.50, set on Friday. The Nasdaq Composite was up .77 points while the Dow Industrial was down 7.45 points on Monday.

European market flat: In the early trading European shares were almost flat owing to mixed reports from the companies. Airlines were the worst performer reflecting sluggish results from Germany’s Lufthansa. The FTSEurofirst 300 was flat after eight straight days of gains, and at 0740 GMT was at 1,281.44 after touching the five-year high in the previous session. The broader STOXX 600 was also flat at 319.55.

Asian markets mixed: Nikkei stock average was up marginally to its 3-1/2-week closing high today, awaiting the U.S. jobs report, which could provide some clues over the uncertainty regarding Federal Reserve stimulus. The Nikkei reached its highest close since Sept. 27 and was up 0.1% to 14,713.25. Shares on the Hong Kong were down on Tuesday from their monthly highs following the weak third-quarterly results posted by China Mobile. The Hang Seng Index, after closing yesterday its highest since Sept. 19, was down 0.5% to 23,316 points.

Stocks in the news

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)

Apple is set to announce the next generation iPad and iPad mini in a media event starting at 1 PM ET. Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald said that the event has been a hot topic in the media and is primarily focused on the iPad. Furthermore, chances are high that a new iPad will be released, which analysts predicted after Apple’s China trip. Analysts added that this will be the most important upgrade of the iPad franchise for Apple since the launch of first iPad in April 2010.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Netflix posted its third quarter results where profit came three times higher to $32 million or 52 cents per share. Revenue for the company came in at $1.1 billion, which is an increase of 22%. Further, Netflix is expecting earnings per share for the fourth quarter to come in at the range of 47 cents to 73 cents, which is more than the FactSet estimate of 45 cents per share.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)

Texas Instruments saw a downtrend in its profits, which were $629 million, or 56 cents per share compared to $784 million or 67 cents per share. Revenue also declined to $3.24 billion from $3.39 billion. According to FactSet, earnings of Texas Instruments were expected to be 53 cents per share. Texas Instruments stock fell more than 3% in after-hours trading.

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC)

EMC Corp is expected to post its third quarter earnings of 45 cents per share. Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities, said that storage fundamentals should improve in the third quarter even with mixed results and a cautious fourth quarter outlook.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Juniper Networks Inc has been projected to post earnings of 31 cents per share in the third quarter. Mark Sue, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets said that Juniper will derive advantage from improving North American carrier trends, which will in turn assist in growth of router order.

Author: Aman JainAman is MBA (Finance) with an experience on both Marketing and Finance side. He has worked as a Risk Analyst for AIR Worldwide, and is currently leading VeRa FinServ, a Financial Research firm. Favorite pastimes include watching science fiction movies, reviewing tech gadgets, playing PC games and cricket. - Email him at amanjain@valuewalk.com